This is a very interesting question. But if you actually could travel back in time ONLY ONCE with a guarantee of a safe return to current time, where & what time would you travel backwards in the past? And why? Any thoughts on this subject?

Been there and done that, its better now

Originally Posted by ArmyCop

I'd LOVE to take my family - go back and live in the 1950's for SEVERAL reason's.

I've been there and done that. Believe me, for all our complaining and moaning, we are all far better off today than during the 1950s. They were OK for the time, but if you really think about what life was like in the 1950s, you wouldn't want to go there.

Just consider medical care. You got an infection, you probably died. About the only thing available were the sulfa drugs and penicillin; at least at the start of that decade.

Heart attack. You lived a debilitated life or croaked. No chance at
recovery.

Needed to get somewhere. You spent hours on a prop plane that
traveled at about half the speed of today's jet---and was nowhere near as safe.

Needed to get somewhere by car. No interstate. Think of trying to make time on all those two lane (one in each direction) roads with farmer Brown driving his horse team down the middle and not letting you pass.

Air conditioning. Hmmm. How in the world did we survive without it? And at the start of the 1950 s there were plenty of places without electric service.

Personal security. Drunk driving was considered a joke. If someone killed someone, well boys would be boys. They were just having a good time. Report a rape. Well boys would be boys.

National Security. Duck and cover. Yeah sure.

TV Black and White. Maybe one station or two with poor reception.
In the largest cities you could get a few more.

Food. Very limited with respect to fish, veggies fruit. Seasonality ruled what was available.

Social. Discrimination of all kinds (not just against blacks) was tolerated if not encouraged by the existing laws.

You don't want to go back to the 1950s. Ozzie and Harriet were TV.
The cheery smiles and bliss of YOUR HIT PARADE and Lawrence Welk, were TV.

Give me the late 1980s through 2001. That period will be the apex of the US standard of living unless we find a rapid way out of our energy problems and much much more. The Soviet threat of the 1950 was real, immediate and brutal, but it was confined and knowable. International threats today are far more diverse and complex.